The Penguin Post

With spring just around the corner, despite taking its jolly good time rounding the corner to State College, I think it is time that everyone find that warm, relaxing, "beach" book. Do you know what I mean? That book that makes you feel all warm and gooey on the inside because the plot is lighthearted and cute with minimal problems for all of you passive-aggressors out there. What spring weather should look like! Image provided by  Courtney McGough . What spring looks like for everyone else living in State College. Image provided by  Wayne Cappleman .  Sarah Dessen, an author with many novels published specifically for lovestruck or lovesick teenagers, published Once and For All last June. Her novel hits home for all of those who have loved before only to be ripped of their happiness and hope. While all of the broken hearts in high school may not be dealing with quite as serious a situation as the main character, these high schoolers will be able to compare ...

The band blared their intoxicating notes soaked in energy and passion. The women were all dolled up, draped in stunning dresses that looked perfect under the sparkling stars of the clear night. Their drunkenness was as ample as the amount of bubbles in their glittering champagne glasses. The blur of faces that swept past one's vision had absolutely no meaning, seeing as none of them had much of any connection to anyone else at the party. Even if they did, barely anyone will remember these faces or conversations or events or excessive drinks by morning as they nurse their blistering headaches - a pleasant morning gift upon rolling out of whoever's bed they crawled in earlier that morning.  Image provided by  Victoria Pickering . This uncommon setting was considered the norm at the Gatsby mansion.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic known and beloved by many. While the general setting in this piece possesses the extravagant image of life i...

Why don't people just say what they mean? There is no need for all of the fluff that adds unnecessary depth to a conversation that is as plain as saying, "What a beautiful day!"  I think a lot of people feel these same sentiments whenever Shakespeare comes up in conversation or -for those of you who do not drag amazing, famous, dead writers into everyday chats - in an English class. This is understandable since William Shakespeare loves to use a form of English that dramatizes some of the most simple sentences, soaks his dialog with figurative language, and makes puzzles of scenes in a play that require deciphering to realize what is actually going on.  Well, I have one word for all of you who think you hate reading Shakespeare: Othello .  This image provided by  Jack Dorsey . William Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello , is my absolute favorite piece of old English literature I have read thus far. Othello possesses so many different aspects of so many diff...